Irish Civil War novelist in talks with HBO for series to commemorate 1916 centenary

Writer Maurice O’Callaghan, born and raised in West Cork, has penned a novel about two families in his home town during the War of Independence and the Civil War, titled “In their dreams of Fire.”

The novel has not been officially released but it has already begun to garner international interest including from HBO.

O’Callaghan will travel to New York to visit with TV giant HBO to discuss filming the novel as a 12-part series for the 1916 centenary. The book will be launched nationally in the autumn but is already on sale in West Cork, reported the Examiner.

The book focuses on the battles of Kilmichael and Crossbarry up to the assassination of Michael Collins and the Ballyseedy Massacre of 1923.

"My mother’s parents didn’t approve of either the War of Independence or the Civil War but my mother did and she supported the Volunteers and fell in love with my father. He was very young, only 17 when he joined the IRA. He was possibly the youngest in the IRA at the time.
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In this his third book, which is 550 pages long and took four years to write, the author has captivated the vivid war experiences of his father and uncles and old family stories, and created an epic novel.

"It not only describes the great hardships attendant upon the birth of the Irish nation but demonstrates the fortitude of our people in time of great duress. In a way it is very relevant to the troubles afflicting the country at the moment because it shows how people endured and overcame hardship in the past."

The novel “In Their Dreams Of Fire” will be launched nationally by Michael D Higgins at the Mansion House, Dublin, on October 11. It will be available in hardback (€18.99) and paperback (€13.99).